Still Here
by Raven-Rach
Summary: Another oneshot featuring Max and Fang. "I need to know if you’re going to leave again- because if you are; you need to leave now." Rated T because this is a teenage book. Fax.


**Ok, well here is another rubbish oneshot that isn't exactly a challenging piece of writing and is not in the slightest** **bit original, but as I don't have time for any other proper FanFics it's the best i can do. Since I can't get any romanticism in reality i might as well live vicariously! Voila! Let me know what you think =]**

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"_I'm sorry I left…. Really, Max… So very sorry…. I wish I could take it back…." _

Angel could hear Fang's thoughts as he silently stared at their leader from across the campfire. It blazed and flickered, reflecting impressively in the dark-haired boy's deep eyes.

"_Missed you so much during the whole stupid thing…. Don't know how you do it…. Being the Leader…. Wish I told you before..." _

Suddenly, Fang's head swivelled towards Angel. _"Stay out of my head," _he thought to her and she meekly obeyed, mouthing a 'sorry'. It surprised the young girl that he was still mentally apologising after so long, but she couldn't exactly confront the teen about it- he would probably make Max send her to bed early, or threaten to take Total away.

"Alright, bedtime!" Max sent the command, and with relatively few groans Angel, Gazzy and Nudge made their way to their makeshift beds on the forest floor. Iggy, Max and Fang remained around the fire. Iggy poked at the small flames with a sturdy branch, adding a shuffling sound to that of the rustling leaves and hushed calls of birds.

"Iggy, take watch for a while." Max rose from her position on the ground, dusted herself off and tapped Fang's shoulder. "I want to talk to you for a minute." He got up without a sound and followed her towards the trees with muted footsteps.

"I need to know if you're going to leave again." she said bluntly, coming to a halt in a small clearing. He stared at her unemotionally for a second, but she kept talking before he could answer. "I need to know- because if you are; you need to leave now. Right now, without making a scene. While they sleep, you need to go quietly. I'll deal with the Flock when they wake up."

"How can you even ask that?" he asked quietly. If he ever showed emotion she guessed that right now it would be pain and anger that he would be portraying.

"I can ask because I know that it might happen, Fang! It happened once before and what the hell is stopping it from happening again?!" While Fang hadn't actually showed his emotions, Max was revealing the same ones very clearly.

"_I_ am stopping it from happening! I am, Max. **Me**!" He ran a tan hand through his jet black floppy hair. "It took two of us to run away. I'm not blaming anyone Max, but it took both of us."

She never replied, and for once in his life Fang spoke without thinking first. "And I think we both know who the expert on running away is here."

Maximum's eyes were livid- burning and furious, scorching holes through the tall boy in front of her. "Don't. Don't you dare turn this into that."

"Why not, Max? We have to talk about it sometime."

"I don't want to talk about it." she shot back immediately.

"Then let me ask you the same question- are you going to leave again?" her silence filled the air around them. "Well. Should I just give up then, Max. Is that what you want?"

"Please stop, Fang." Max's voice was still low, and she avoided his penetrating gaze. With her excellent eyesight she could just about make out the Flock's silhouette highlighted by the dying embers of the fire. Iggy could be seen hunched against a tree, alert and poised for the everlasting threat of danger and action.

"No, Max, not this time." Stubbornly, she refused to speak. This was not how she anticipated tonight's conversation going at all. She had expected him to either furiously refute her worries or stoically leave and let her pick up the pieces of many broken hearts.

Fang looked weary and frustrated: like a brave soldier tired of war, he seemed to lose his will to fight and simply abandoned the mission.

"Fine," he said, turning to leave. "But just remember Max, I only left once. And I won't be doing it again. I'm always going to be here- for the Flock. But if you don't stop running away… I won't be here for you in the way I am now. I'll never leave you, but even I don't have the strength to keep this up."

With that the tall, winged boy started to walk away without ever looking back.

"Wait," the blonde whispered- the soft sound carried on the wind as though she didn't want to be heard at all. But she was.

He glanced back.

"I'm trying." she murmured. "It's hard and it's not what I'm used to, but I'm still standing here. I am trying."

The corner of his mouth twitched momentarily as though he wanted to smile. "Then I'm not going anywhere, and I'm not going to give in. We'll keep trying."

"Promise you won't leave." she whispered, her hair whipping on the breeze that had begun to pick up. Behind her on the forest floor, rusty leaves began to twitch among the ferns and grass. Like her nerves, they were unable to stay calm or still. Fang on the other hand was an embodiment of motionlessness. He stood proud and unmoving, not even the wind dared to tease at his dark locks- with his stationary onyx wings behind him he was truly a sight to behold, like an avenging angel of the highest order. Then again, Max herself seemed celestial with her snow white wings flecked with tawny specks and her golden hair.

"I already promised that once before," Fang rebutted.

Raising her eyes to meet his, she almost seemed to beg with her pleading words. "Please. Say it again. Swear you won't leave me."

In that moment Fang could see that she truly was trying, that maybe she might need him just as much as he needed her. So he stepped forward to stand directly in front of her. For once he didn't care that he had to open up and talk- because Max was the only one that he could do that with, probably because she was the only one that could understand him when he said nothing at all.

"I promise," he whispered, their proximity almost overpowering. "I promise: because I know that I could never leave you behind. But I'm afraid that you don't believe me so I want to make sure you do."

The beautiful girl with the dirt-streaked cheeks and windswept tresses looked at him perplexingly as though she didn't understand what he meant. And so Fang cleared it up for her. Tenderly he brushed a lock of blonde hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear, all the while his stare penetrating her fixated eyes. The space between them closed instantly and once again Max felt her best friend press his lips to hers. Her arms found their way up to his shoulders and entwined themselves around the nape of his neck, as his hands wound around her waist. Some moments later he pulled away and let surprise reign on his face.

"You didn't run away?" he said in confusion, his hands now lightly grasping her forearms.

Maximum swallowed deeply. "I'm contemplating it," she said but held her ground at his side.

"Believe me now?" he asked smirking wryly.

She could only nod hesitantly and Fang realised he still hadn't won back that kind of trust, but he knew that he would and he knew that he would never leave the angel's side again. It was an unspoken agreement that they would not speak of the events that had just taken place.

Beneath the soft glare of the silver moon shining in bright slivers between the trees' leafy branches, they walked back into the makeshift camp where Max relieved Iggy of his duty. Fang pretended to sleep as she settled into her watch, but he never shut his eyes fully. Nothing would harm his Max when he was nearby. Nothing would ever harm his Max again.


End file.
